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1957 saw the continued growth of bigger taller tail fins on new cars and more lights, bigger with more powerful engines and an average car sold for $2,749. The Soviet Union launched the first space satellite Sputnik 1. Movies included "Twelve Angry Men" and "The Bridge Over the River Kwai", and TV showed "Perry Mason" and "Maverick" for the first time. The music continued to be Rock and Roll with artists like "Little Richard". The popular toys were Slinkys and Hula Hoops. The continued growth of the use of credit was shown by the fact that 2/3 of all new cars were bought on credit. Some of the areas that would cause problems later were starting to show South Vietnam is attacked by Viet Cong Guerrillas and Troops are sent to Arkansas to enforce anti segregation laws
Cost Of Living, - News, Facts and Events, - Movies, TV and Music, - Technology, - Born This Year, World Leaders,


Cost of Living 1957

How Much things cost in 1957
Yearly Inflation Rate USA 3.34%
Yearly Inflation Rate UK 3.3%
Average Cost of new house $12,220.00
Average Monthly Rent $90.00
Average Yearly Wages $4.550.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas 24 cents
Bacon per pound 60 cents
Eggs per dozen28 cents
HI FI Portable Record Player $79.95
Childrens Shoes $5.95
Below are some Prices for UK guides in Pounds Stirling

Average House Price 2,330
Average Wages 600


What Events Happened in 1957

Vietnam
  • South Vietnam attacked by Viet Cong Guerrillas
Italy
  • Treaty of Rome ( The EEC European Economic Community is formed )
World
  • The Word Beatnik take hold as words to describe the " Beat Generation "
Russia
  • USSR launches Sputnik 1 on October 4th inaugurating the Space Age and the Space Race
U.S.
  • Martin Luther King Jr heads nationwide resistance to racial segregation and discrimination in the US
U.S.
  • Toyota starts selling cars in the US, the first is the Toyopet Crown
U.S.
  • Authorities arrest dozens of Mafia bosses during a Mafia Bosses meeting at Apalachin, New York,
UK
U.S.
  • Federal Troops sent to Arkansas to enforce anti segregation laws
UK
  • Anthony Eden resigns due to his handling of the Suez Crisis - Harold Macmillan becomes the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Egypt
  • Egypt re-opens the Suez Canal
Malaya
  • Malaya Gains Independence From Britain
Singapore
  • Singapore gains Self Rule
U.S.
  • Portable Radar Devices Used To Enforce Speed Limits
U.S.
  • Tidal Wave follows Hurricane Audrey into coasts of Texas and Louisiana
U.S.
  • The National Guard on the order of Governor Orval Faubus is used to prevent nine African American students from entering Central High School in Little Rock on September 4th and shortly after Federal troops charge defiant protestors with fixed bayonets to ensure nine African American Students can attend Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas
U.S.
  • The Mackinac suspension bridge opens connecting the Upper and Lower peninsulas of the U.S. state of Michigan.
UK
  • Foot and Mouth in England Reaches epidemic proportions with 30,000 animals slaughtered
World
  • Asian Flu pandemic claims over 150,000 lives world wide
World
  • 1957 was the peak of the Baby Boomeryears
U.S.
  • The House for Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) convicts a number of writers and playwrites for Un-American Activities / Communist party membership
Haiti
  • Physician Francois Duvalier PAPA DOC becomes president of Haiti
Ghana
  • Ghana Gains Independence From Great Britain






Popular Culture

  • Elvis Presley purchases a mansion in Memphis, Tennessee and calls it Graceland
  • The Cavern Club opens in Liverpool ( Where the Beetle's started )
  • The Film Jailhouse Rock premiers with Elvis Presley
  • "American Bandstand" the teenagers chart music show makes its network debut on ABC
  • Popular Films

    • The Ten Commandments
    • Around the World in Eighty Days
    • 12 Angry men
    • Jailhouse Rock by Elvis Presley
    • The Bridge on the River Kwai
    • The Three Faces of Eve

    Popular Books

    • The Cat in the Hat - Dr. Seuss
    • From Russia with Love - Ian Fleming
    • The Guns of Navarone - Alistair MacLean

    Check out our Television Programmes From The 50s whenever possible we have included a trailer to jog your memory. Series trailers and more information are found on the decade they started.

    What do you remember ? was this the year you graduated ?, what music was being played the year you were born?





    Technology 1957

    • Ultrasound scanning pioneered in Scotland


    • First Nuclear Reactor plant opens for production of electricity in Pennsylvania US


    • The Soviet Union launches Sputnik I,on October 4th the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth.


    • Soviets test H Bomb


    • Great Britain tests first hydrogen bomb on the Christmas Island


    • The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2. On board is the first animal to enter space - a dog named Laika.


    • Inventions Invented by Inventors and Country ( or attributed to First Use )
      Satellite Russia Sputnik I






    Major World Political Leaders 1957

    Australia Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies

    Brazil President Juscelino Kubitschek

    Canada Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent till June 21,
    Canada Prime Minister John Diefenbaker from June 21,

    China Chairman of the People's Republic of China Mao Zedong

    France President René Coty

    Germany Chancellor Konrad Adenauer

    India Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru

    Italy Prime Minister Antonio Segni Till 15 May
    Italy Prime Minister Adone Zoli From 19 May

    Japan Prime Minister Tanzan Ishibashi Till 25 February
    Japan Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi From 25 February

    Mexico President Adolfo Ruiz Cortines

    Russia / Soviet Union
    First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Nikita Khrushchev

    South Africa Prime Minister Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom

    United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower

    United Kingdom Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden Till 10 January
    United Kingdom Prime Minister Harold Macmillan From 10 January

    Political Elections 1957


    Canadian Federal Election 1957 John Diefenbaker ( Progressive Conservatives ) defeats Louis St. Laurent ( Liberal )


    The Information above is taken from our new page that gives world leaders from 1920 to current.
    WorldLeaders